Resident says the council took no action on the waterway where the dog died of suspected algae poisoning

A Christchurch resident says the death of a dog should not have been necessary for the council to take action on a dirty canal.

Absolute shame: residents contacted council about pond for years, dog dies of suspected poisoning

A pond in the suburb of Parklands has been cornered since it allegedly killed a dog from algae poisoning.

However, Robert Smith said he has been contacting the council regularly for several years to ask them to frequently clean the public waterway at the Arthur Adcock Memorial Reserve.

“Then his left, and he went and he went and he becomes an absolute disgrace.

Smith’s property returns to reserve.

A council spokesperson said the city’s waterways are cleaned regularly and the dog’s death is potentially due to bacteria growing in the pond.

Smith said the waterway was neglected for months this year and was only taken seriously once it allegedly caused the dog’s death.

“What I find irritating is that you can’t get a direct answer from whoever is responsible for having a maintenance program in place so people don’t have to worry about it.”

The reported tests showed possible toxic algal blooms in the pond.

The test was carried out after 5-year-old Weimaraner crossbreed Skye died of suspected algae poisoning.